drag me to sea
by knucklecakes
Summary: The original team with some new additions have another fun beach day (during Team 0 - Team 5, pre Invasion). [dickbabs]


Hot summer days are hard to come by in Happy Harbor, but late August provides the perfect climate to make use of the beach Mt. Justice is located on. The team, along with some new recruits, sunbathe at the side, taking some pleasure in one of the precious free days they have. Wally, Dick, Kaldur and Conner laze around as Gar attempts to surf, but alas the waves prove to be dull and Gar simply lies on the board as it floats in the small waves the Atlantic gives.

"So, Robin, how's Batgirl?" Wally asks, tipping his sunglasses down to his sunscreened nose.

"Batman recruited a new one?" Conner asks in a gruff voice.

"Yeah, she's Batgirl. Goes to Gotham Academy with me," Dick responds, not bothering to face them. His eyes remain closed underneath his black shades. Right now, he doesn't want to think about Babs; last night's patrol did not go as planned and Bruce was so disappointed but of course, he has to be blamed. The commissioner's daughter can do no wrong!

"When do we meet Batgirl?" Kaldur asks as he is more than elated to have more Earth friends. Tula and Garth are his best friends, but there's only so much time he has to spare in Atlantis.

"Who knows? She does what wants when she wants," Dick groans. He just wants to stop talking about her. Whenever he thinks about her, the pit of his stomach starts to stir and the tip of his ears burn. He deems it nothing more than a high school crush but it's been there ever since he started high school. Of course, Dick has grown in height and in ahem, other places, but with that accompanies hormone growth as well.

Ugh, no matter what, his mind goes back to Barbara! Sometimes, he just wants to grab her and kiss her until his feelings disappear but he fears that it would only intensify his crush instead.

"Are you guys friends?" Conner asks as he thinks of his friendship, maybe more with M'gann.

"I guess; sometimes she just makes me so angry. It's like she tries to annoy me," Dick turns around so he's lying on his stomach and tries to hide his face in his towel.

"I think they might be a little more, eh?" Wally grins with a nudge of his elbow to Dick's rib.

"No! There is nothing going on between us," Dick states firmly. Wally, Kaldur and Conner face each other with a knowing smirk and Dick groans outwardly.

"Between who?" Zatanna asks as the girls come out of the cave with totes and balls. They're all wearing clothes on top and Wally's gaze is centered at Artemis who leans down on Wally's lap and places a kiss square on his lips.

"Looking good, Baywatch," she smiles against his chapped lips.

"Not as good as you, delicious," he grins as he places his hands around her waist. She shakes her head in amusement and stands back up. The girls plan to set their towels apart from the guys. They watch as Zatanna, Barbara, M'gann and Artemis place their towels and empty their totes with sunscreen.

During this, Dick has turned around as he stares at Barbara and he swears that she is glaring at him through his shades and in an instant, she knows what they were talking about.

"How's summer going, Barbara?" M'gann asks the new girl.

"It's going good, Gotham City's criminals still lame as ever," she chuckles.

"Hey! Aren't you going to introduce us?" Gar exclaims as he spies his older sister and her friends. He runs over to M'gann and gives her a hug.

"Ah right! Guys, this is Barbara also Batgirl. Barb, this is Wally, Conner, Kaldur and M'gann's little brother Garfield. I'm under the assumption that you know Robin," Zatanna says as she points to the respective people.

"Hey," Barbara says as she feels heat around her neck from all the gazes. It's so out of character for her; when she's Batgirl, she doesn't care if she's running around, flying through buildings, but without the cowl, everything is heightened, especially Dick's gaze because it's her. He's looking at her, and she's naked under his gaze without the protection of his cowl.

"Hi there gorgeous!" Wally smirks as Artemis groans and tells Barb to ignore the doofus.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Kaldur smiles as he stands up to give Barbara a handshake.

"You too, Kaldur," she smiles warmly at him. Her and Conner share a small smile and she understands that it will take some time to build a friendship with the half Kryptonian clone. Batman gave her access to the files for the team so she has been religiously studying them so not to make a mistake that will jeapordize her place in the team. It's not a new thing for her, working with other vigilantes, but the environment at Mt Justice is completely different than in Gotham. Everyone here is carefree to a certain degree and she feels like this could be a new home for her.

"So what do say? Let's go girlfriend!" Artemis shrugs out of her shorts and tank. Zatanna says a quick spell to put her bathing suit on and M'gann morphs into her usual yellow bikini.

Dick's eyes are centered on Barbara as she shyly takes her shirt and shorts off to reveal a one piece black suit. There are simple strings around her shoulders and it's in a black and yellow color scheme. Her navel is covered but the shape of her hips is pronounced and Dick feels his jaw about to drop but then he closes his eyes and counts to ten. This is much worse than seeing her in the skin tight batsuit.

Wally elbows Dick and whispers "Remind me again why you aren't dating her."

Dick sharply turns around and glares at his best friend. He sighs as he sees M'gann rush over to Conner as she kisses his and plays with his hair. Gar seems to be elated as Zatanna is making waves so he can surf. It's an activity that he misses from his earlier life at Qurac.

"Because she's a know it all," Dick responds with a small grunt. But of course, he wishes that he was dating her but after his and Zatanna's falling apart, even he knows it's too quick to rush into anything with Barbara. He remembers the kiss they shared at his birthday party and she was the one to instigate it.

After that, he had asked her what it meant for them and she had responded with a small shrug and "whatever you want it to mean." Dick was in no position to enter a relationship in middle school, especially with his extracurriculars. But on occasion, him and Barbara did have instances where they kissed, but it was just that.

"She's a good looking know it all," Wally responds with shifty eyes that seem to insinuate something. He could never lie to Wally; he brings his hand up and palms his forehead and really thinks about confessing everything but then doubts it. What would Bruce do?

He would silently brood over it in the Batcave. And then proceed to make out with Selina during patrol.

"I think I like her," he says in a soft voice. Wally and Conner's ears perk up and they turn to face him.

"No, I do like her," he states firmly as he sits up and faces his friends.

"So, what's the problem?" Conner asks, and its easy for him because since he's been free, he's with M'gann and there are no complications.

"Dude, you don't have a Bat haunting your every move," Wally says as he begins to realize. Kaldur nods in understanding and he wishes he could offer a solution but his own love life hasn't been in development for quite some time.

"Good luck, my friend," Kaldur sympathizes.

"One can only hope," Dick sighs and his eyes focus on Barbara splashing in the ocean with everyone else.


End file.
